Armory

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BURBANK — A winter shelter for the homeless will open Monday for the second consecutive year at the Burbank National Guard Armory, to provide shelter for up to 150 people during the year’s coldest months. The armory will host the shelter through March 15, said Andy Bales, director of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, which runs the program. “We really think it’s important to get them out of the cold and rain,” he said. The Burbank City Council in October approved hosting the tri-city shelter, which had been the Glendale armory for more than 10 years.

CITY HALL — County officials have contracted with Los Angeles-based Union Rescue Mission to again operate this year’s homeless winter shelter at the Burbank armory, less than a year after a last-minute push to host the shelter there forced community dialogue over the city’s role in homeless services. The commitment comes three months earlier than it did last year, when county officials were scrambling to find an alternative to the Glendale National Guard Armory, which had hosted the tri-city area shelter for more than a decade but was unavailable amid major renovations.

The First United Methodist Church of Glendale opened its doors on Christmas morning to provide sustenance instead of a sermon. Through the 13 annual Food for Body and Soul Christmas morning breakfast, more than 60 homeless and less advantaged residents from Glendale, Burbank and nearby cities got a full meal in the church?s cafeteria. Food for Body and Soul is a 13-year-old nonprofit program that provides Sunday lunch and then a sermon to those in need. The church also operates The Lord?

BURBANK — The city’s winter homeless shelter opened Monday, providing cots, showers and hot meals to 31 people on its first night of operation at the Burbank National Guard Armory. Last year, the shelter drew only about 15 people on its first night and almost 150 on its most crowded evening before it closed in mid-March, said Andy Bales, director of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, which runs the program. “Once the word gets out and the weather gets a little worse, we’ll have more people coming in,” Vice Mayor Gary Bric said.

Steven Elliott credits the friends he meets for making life on the streets and in homeless shelters bearable. “You get to meet everybody,” he said. “We become a family.” One of Elliott’s friends who he would commonly see at shelters and free meals died this year. So on Monday evening, he held a candle in his memory. Elliott was one of dozens of people gathered outside the Glendale National Guard Armory on Colorado Street clutching candles to honor the 417 homeless people who have died in the last year.

BURBANK — With winter fast approaching, the City Council on Tuesday night finalized a plan to provide a shelter for the region’s homeless population, similar to the details worked out in 2007. The plan, approved by a 4-1 vote, calls for the shelter to open Dec. 1 and close March 15 and will provide shelter in the city’s National Guard Armory at 3800 W. Valhalla Drive for up to 150 homeless people from around Southern California. “I’m glad to be able to help people out,” Vice Mayor Gary Bric said.

GLENDALE — The search is on for a new winter homeless shelter site after a state official Wednesday said the National Guard Armory in Burbank, which has hosted the program for the past two years, would be unavailable for at least a year. The Glendale Armory on Colorado Street has been offered up to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which administers the emergency winter shelter program, as an alternative site, Sgt. Major Lawrence Ellsworth said. The confirmation came on the same day that homeless service providers met with Glendale and Burbank city officials to discuss the most recent winter shelter program, which has taken some political heat after a group of Burbank residents complained about its effect on the neighborhood.